


Thicker Than Water

by ShahbanouScheherazade



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Genre: Angst, Family, Gen, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:37:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShahbanouScheherazade/pseuds/ShahbanouScheherazade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Elizabeth is abducted from her house, Weatherby Swann contemplates the limits of a father's power to help his only child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thicker Than Water

**Author's Note:**

> To My Readers: Thank you so much for your kudos and comments. It means a lot to me when I hear your feedback, and I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your support!
> 
> NOTE: I have no claim whatsoever to any of the brilliant POTC characters; I am grateful to be sitting at a banquet table set by truly talented storytellers.

His instincts had failed him; there was no denying it.

Governor Swann paced his bedchamber; sleep was out of the question, and he could not bear to remain in the library, where the broken doors and general disorder bore witness to the moment his daughter had been seized and abducted.

Commodore Norrington had sent him away - ordered him, in fact - to take some rest, while a force was assembled to mount a search for Elizabeth. "Let me do what I do best," Norrington had said. "I shall confer with you in the morning and we shall determine the best course." _Yes,_ thought the Governor, _I am not a military man; even there, I am of little use to my child._

Swann's manservant had already packed for him, under his frantic instructions. The boxes were in the hall, ready to be carried aboard the _Dauntless_. But tonight, the Governor was alone; having fought down his feelings of panic, he was left ruminating on something equally disturbing. How could he not have known when his only child was in danger? How could he have been absent, carefree, oblivious, when she needed him; laughing with Norrington, when she was being chased, terror-stricken, through the house?

He had failed her when she needed him, and now he might never see her again. He had been blithely assuaging Norrington's trivial concerns over whether she would accept the Commodore's hand in marriage. And all the while, the pirate ship had been creeping closer, gliding over the black seas in the dark, treacherous night, until Port Royal had been rocked by its cannon fire. And still he had not experienced that instinctive alarm upon which he had always relied, the cold _frisson_ that should have warned him she was in danger. He sat down nervously at his desk, bewildered at his inability to sense, to know, the instant that his own daughter was being kidnapped.

A slight cough and movement at the door caught his attention. It was his manservant, Thomas Harris. "Will there be anything else tonight, sir?" asked Harris, noting the Governor's hesitant, distracted state. "Anything I can do for you?"

His master shook his head and sighed. "No. Not unless you can help me understand how a father can go about his business unaware that his child, his own flesh and blood, is in deadly peril. Yet, I sensed . . . nothing."

"Well, sir," Harris answered reflectively, "if I might venture an opinion, Miss Elizabeth has always been a mighty strong young lady. Perhaps even now she's triumphing over them that took her." He glanced at the Governor's face, which was suddenly alert with hope, and added, "If that's so, then there's naught amiss with your instinct, sir. It told you she wasn't in danger, and I'll warrant we find it's right. No doubt she's on her way back to you as we speak."

 _Little Lizzie,_ Governor Swann thought. _My spirited daughter; perhaps it's true. It must be true. Otherwise, I would know; I am sure of it now._ Relief coursed through his veins.

"Send my boxes to the _Dauntless_ , Harris," he announced. "I shall be sailing in the morning - to welcome back my daughter."


End file.
